Vanishing Point - Marc Cerasini [47]
"I believe it's necessary, Senator Palmer," Dr. Reed replied. "In order to truly understand the power of this weapon, you must witness the Malignant Wave's effect on actual brains and central nervous systems. I don't believe a print-out of a microwave graph would be sufficient."
Palmer frowned. "I defer to your expertise, Dr. Reed."
* * *
5:56:40 p.m. PDT
The Cha-Cha Lounge, Las Vegas
Morris O'Brian led Jack Bauer to the sub basement storage room. Hands quaking, the little man unlocked the steel door, pushed it open, switched on the overhead light.
"Over there, Jack," Morris croaked, averting his eyes.
Jack stepped over two canvas bags filled with dusty Christmas decorations, moved around a row of unused roulette tables. The corpse was there, where Morris had pointed. Face down on the concrete floor, blood had oozed from the stab wound after death, staining the floor black.
"Who is it, Jack?"
Bauer crouched over the dead man, carefully turned the corpse onto its side. The skin was already spotted with purple blotches, limbs stiffening but not yet frozen by rigor mortis, so the man had been dead for several hours.
Jack used his pen flashlight to probe the floor around the body. Not enough blood on the ground, so Jack knew he didn't die here. He tossed the corpse, fishing through the man's pockets, under his belt, under the shirt and inside his pants. He'd already made a positive identification, so Jack wasn't trying to find out who the dead man was. He just wanted to see what he found — a wallet, keys, loose change, a pack of matches and a couple of chips from Circus, Circus.
"It's Ray Perry," Jack replied.
Morris swallowed loudly. "That explains why he's been missing. I guess we know it wasn't Ray who killed Max Farrow in his cell, then."
Jack lowered the corpse to the ground. "He's been stabbed a couple of times, but the neck wound finished him. I think Perry was killed in the security room, before or after Max Farrow was murdered. His blood mingled with Farrow's. I should have figured out that there was too much blood." Bauer's expression darkened. "In a scene like that, there always seems to be too much blood..."
Bauer stood, tucked the dead man's wallet into the back pocket of his black Levi's. "Why were you down here, Morris?"
"Blew a bank of cameras on the northeast side of the gaming room. I wanted to check the circuit breakers..." Morris pointed to the opposite wall. "That's the box, over there. I found the problem, corrected it. Then, as I was leaving, I saw... him."
"Did you tell anyone?"
Morris stared at the dead man, shook his head. "I was looking for Curtis... Found you instead."
"Who else has a key to this room?" Jack demanded.
Morris shrugged. "Too many people, Jack. Curtis... Don Driscoll... Chick Hoffman. That guy Manny... what's his name... The guy who works the night shift. I think the bartender has a copy, too."
"How well was the body hidden?" Jack asked, his mind categorizing the likelihood of each man's guilt.
"I wouldn't have found Ray, except that I was taking a peek at those roulette tables over there." Morris scratched his chin. "Saw his feet sticking out from behind the canvas bags."
"Nobody comes down here much, anyway," Jack said, thinking out loud. "Whoever stashed the corpse here knew it was only a matter of time before Perry was found. Which means the killer only needed to buy a few hours, maybe less..."
"What's that mean, Jack?"
Bauer's eyes narrowed as he stared down at the dead man. "It means our traitor is going to make his move very soon... and we have to be ready."
7THE FOLLOWING TAKES PLACE BETWEEN THE HOURS OF 6 P.M. AND 7 P.M. PACIFIC DAYLIGHT TIME
6:01:34 p.m. PDT
Hangar Six, Experimental Weapons Testing Range
Groom Lake Air Force Base
Megan Reed led Palmer to the tent erected less than fifty feet from the microwave tower. As soon as he entered, he felt a cool blast of air, heard the whine of a cooling unit. While he watched, the tent flaps were lowered, completely blocking